During the current projected period, we propose to: 1) Demonstrate that an effective means exists to reduce post-burn hypermetabolism in humans (as we have done in burned rabbits (under NIH-NIGMS 16973-05)). 2) Resolve the significant question of whether a cause-and-effect relationship exists between evaporative water loss and hypermetabolism in man (which relationship we have shown to exist in rabbits (GM-16973-04)). 3) Ascertain whether the morbidity and mortality of human burn victims is reduced-as it is in the laboratory animal (GM 16793-04)--associated with the use of Ethyl Linoleate as part of the clinical regimen. 4) Improve primary healing in human burn wounds heretofore considered to be full-thickness lesions. (Under GM 16973-04, 05 we showed that one application of ethyl linoleate was associated with significant (p 0.001) primary healing in histologically confirmed full-thickness contact burns in 29 of 42 rabbits. 1) We will study humans with accidental burns in our clinical partitional calorimeter to measure metabolic heat production before and after the burns have been treated wih ethyl linoleate (EL) using the techniques and mathematics (adapted from Stolwikk, Hardy and others) we use in our animal work. 2) We have found one topical dose (0.01 ml/cm to the second power eschar) of the naturally-occurring skin lipid, EL (ethyl-cis, cis,(9,12) octadecadienoate) to be safe and effective in normalizing evaporative water loss and heat production post-burn. Therefore we will use EL to achieve these effects in human burn victims. Since the reduction in evaporative water loss was proportional to the reduction in heat production in rabbits, and since no EL-treated rabbit died (vs. 30 plus or minus percent deaths in untreated rabbits) we look for similar results in man. Since we showed that one application of EL, 0.01 ml/cm to the second power eschar, at any time 24 hours post-burn was associated with significant healing of contact burns in rabbits; and since a pilot study (not under NIH aegis) in 15 patients with 3 plus or minus per-cent burns resulted in complete healing of 14 burns (7 of which were clinically full-thickness) we expect to extend these observations in humans with larger areas burned.